TripleShot review

[DrNewcenstein]

This thread replaced the original thread, which was a little less than ideal.


First, a brief recap of events:

I, like many, pre-ordered some of these as soon as the option was available. Unfortunately, immediately after shipping them out, it was discovered that the factory put in the wrong type of switch and they were recalled. I kept mine and finally found replacement switches for them (hence this review appears before you've got yours in your hands ).


I'm proud to say that after a slight hiccup (soldering issue on my part) the transplant was a total success. The switches operate as Duncan originally intended: I get Series, Split to Inner Coil, Split to Outer Coil, and Parallel, so Mission Accomplished. I have the equivalent of the "right" TripleShots.



First off, let's see what these are:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/triple-shot/triple_shot_swi/


The TripleShot switching system is a humbucker mounting ring with built-in 2-way miniature toggle switches that give you the following switching options literally at your fingertips:
Series
Parallel
Split to inner coil
Split to outer coil

This, needless to say, is one of the greatest innovations in guitar technology since the humbucking pickup.

You can replace (or avoid adding) push-pull pots and/or mini-toggles, yet still have almost every available wiring option possible (I say "almost" because there's always some smart-guy out there that says "but what about....").

You also can combine the TripleShot with a push-pull pot or 2-way mini-toggle to reverse the phase of the pickup if you so desire, opening up yet more options with a 2-hum or H-S-H guitar and a TripleShot on each humbucker (if someone wants to go for 3 on a Black Beauty...).


Installation:

The TripleShot ring is a pickup mounting ring at heart, so it mounts just like any other pickup ring. The switching system is attached to a circuit board via a 4-wire ribbon cable similar to what you'd see in a PC.

The circuit board is paint-by-numbers - each wire of a 4-conductor pickup has its own reserved seat on the board (Red, White, Green, Black, and Bare). This board also has 3 wires already attached - a black, white, and bare wire.

The white goes to the Hot output (pickup selector or volume knob) and the black and bare go to ground.

By reversing the white and black, you can reverse the phase of the pickup without reversing the TripleShot's switching.

However, just because the board is color-coded doesn't mean you have to adhere to it. So long as the bare wire is on the correct solder point, you can actually put any colored wire anywhere you want. Just be aware that affects switching positions and results.

Anyway, following the color-coding of the TripleShot (and you are of course installing it with Duncan pickups - if not, check the chart here or here and adjust accordingly), you can mount the flat ring itself in either bass-side or treble-side orientation, but the arched ring (Les Pauls, etc) will have to be mounted so the switches are on the bass side.

If you mount the flat rings so the switches are on the treble side, you may wish to reverse the wiring so the switching matches the included directions.

To be perfectly honest, I don't see it being an issue unless you're switching between guitars and you want them all to operate the exact same way (in which case you'd have the flat rings mounted the same as the arched rings, right? Right. So that means it's a non-issue).


ANYWAY, since the system is designed so that the TripleShot's lead wires extend to the control cavity rather than the pickup's lead wires, you may at first be concerned as to how you're going to fit the full length of pickup cable into the pickup cavity along with the TripleShot's circuit board.

(continued)

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: TripleShot review

If you've found the pickups you'll be buried with, you can simply clip the pickup's lead wires short enough to fit everything into the route.

However, if such is not the case, and/or you wish to retain as much of the pickup's original lead as possible, then you may want to consider coiling the pickup's lead in a concentric loop around the bottom of the pickup, with the circuit board in the center of the loop. Most guitars should offer you enough clearance under the pickup to do this.

(Don't do what I first did and try to coil up the cables in some half-baked snake-like bundle - you'll be disappointed :lol: )

Neatness counts here, that's for sure.


Put a bit of tape around the pickup's lead wires to keep the loop together, and maybe even tape it to the baseplate of the pickup if you can (thanks for the tip, Frank!)

Better still, if you just happen to have a thin piece of metal or plastic you can attach to the base of the pickup to keep the wires in place, you could go that route.


Anyway, once you've got the whole thing mounted, all you have to worry about is the white and black wires coming from the TripleShot.



A word of caution: If you're using overly-tall pickups that are bottoming out in the pickup cavity and they are at the ideal height (i.e. going any higher means you're hitting the strings), you may be looking at some woodwork if you wish to install TripleShots, like cutting away some wood. This might be a rare event, but one you might want to consider with a vintage or otherwise collectible instrument.

Alternatively, if said pickup just so happens to have solder points for the conductors on the bottom of the pickup itself (like the Anderson H-1), you can separate the circuit board from the ribbon cable (and void your warranty) and solder each of the 4 wires to each of the pickup conductors' solder points. The pickup's conductors thereby would continue into the control cavity and connect to the circuit board, which would then connect to your controls.
(I actually did this with an Anderson H-1, so I know it works).

Remember, modding the TripleShot in any way voids the warranty, including the "Real World trial period" thingy. I also don't recommend doing anything to a pickup you can't undo, or don't feel comfortable doing, such as touching a hot soldering iron to the actual coil leads/conductor points. One slip and you have a magnetic paperweight that looks cooler than anyone else's paperweight.



Installing the TripleShot onto a pickguarded guitar is as easy as falling down, though you should be aware that the ribbon cable could have undue pressure applied to it since it will be resting directly on top of the pickguard. You can take a small file and shave a slight bevel into the pickguard at that point if you wish, but from what I can tell of my own similar installation, it's not going to be a problem unless you're going to be swapping pickups often, and thus flexing the ribbon cable at that point.

Alternatively, you can cut the switch end of the ring off (again, voiding the warranty), and simply mount that to the pickguard. Not sure how that'd look, but it was Frank's idea, not mine :lol:


Functionality/Useability:

Working the actual switches while playing is not a problem at all. It's no more "work" than pulling a push/pull or flipping a mini-toggle located near the guitar's controls.
I've been able to actuate the switches using my pick (Dunlop Jazz III).



Invariably someone will ask for a difference between the TripleShot and a set of Push/Pull pots to do the same thing.

If you're looking to avoid dealing with pot swaps, I can't say installing the TripleShot will be less work. To swap pots on a fixed bridge solidbody with rear-loaded guts, you flip it over and do the deed in the cavity.
To put TripleShots on the same guitar, you have to remove the strings (or detune enough to get the pickups out and back in).

If you've got a pickguarded guitar where the control section can be removed without touching the strings, and you've already got 4-conductor pickups in it, then pots will be easier. If not, then either one is just as much work - strings gotta come off either way.

Granted, with a recessed trem, you can pop off the trem springs and get to the guts quickly, but with either the TripleShot or push-pull pots, you're still going to have up to 11 screws to deal with twice (off and on).


Where the TripleShot wins against the push-pulls is that if you have a 2-hum or H-S-H Strat-type, or a 2-hum solidbody with only 2 knobs, to get the same switching options as the TS on both hums, you're going to have to add knobs/switches.

(continued yet again)

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: TripleShot review

With the TripleShot, both hums can have one, and both hums will have full switching options, plus you've got your regular pickup selector to mix the two pickups together - parallel bridge + split neck, bridge split to the inner + neck split to the inner, etc etc - and all that switching can be done quickly and smoothly while never taking your hand away from the picking area.


Summary:

As I said in the beginning, the TripleShot is a great innovation, and if you're a tone-chaser who's been doing push-pulls and mini-toggles for years, or if you're new to the multi-switching madness, get a TripleShot.



Thanks to Frank Falbo of Seymour Duncan for assistance with this review :friday:



Here's a bit of technical data regarding the TripleShot:

I made this diagram from examining the boards, but I think I'm missing something. This is what I've been able to determine regarding how the boards are wired (the switchboard is double-sided, meaning tracers/runners on both sides).

 

[MasterKtulu]

Re: TripleShot review

Cool, thanks for the extensive info!

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: TripleShot review

quick question... since it has +/- leads going out to output, does that mean you can wire up a phase reversal switch in the control cavity?

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: TripleShot review

YES! It also means you could put the two humbuckers in series with eachother if you wanted. That would enable you to have strange things like one coil from each pickup in series, or you could have both Humbuckers switched to parallel, but in series with eachother, etc.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: TripleShot review

YES! It also means you could put the two humbuckers in series with eachother if you wanted. That would enable you to have strange things like one coil from each pickup in series, or you could have both Humbuckers switched to parallel, but in series with eachother, etc.

if that's the case, then you could switch on the bridgeward/neckward coils, switch it into series, and it would be like coil swap, no?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: TripleShot review

Or if you were doing whacky stuff like 2 Lil pickups in a pickguard humbucker route and make pseudo-hybrids - one coil of each pickup.

I've got one TripleShot left that's not installed, and was planning to use that for advanced/trick wiring in a Strat-type since it's easier to do combination wiring like that, but I'm researching diagrams to see what can be done.

Basically you've got 2 DPDT switches that are pre-wired: one for Series/Parallel and the other to shut off either coil.

One of the things I'm trying to figure out is how you'd wire 2 pickups to one circuit board to get Outer coil of a JBJr in Bridge 1 + Inner coil of a Lil 59 in Bridge 2. Granted you may lose a given option vs wiring just one pickup to the TS, but you gain the ability to make hybrids electronically.


Following Frank's idea of cutting the control portion off the ring, both bridge pickups could have their own TS switches, and you do pickup/coil mixing with the 5-way switch.


Hmmmmmm....